


Impalpability

by fnowae



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: I don't know what to tag this but oh well it exists, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, very light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 07:24:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11823933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fnowae/pseuds/fnowae
Summary: "So...you got cursed," Joe finishes, frowning. He still doesn't get that part, but he believes Patrick anyway. It doesn't seem like something Patrick would lie about."Yeah," Patrick says."How so?" Joe asks, because, well...Patrick doesn't look cursed to him.





	Impalpability

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt this is written for is at the end notes because SPOILERS!
> 
> Anyways, not much to say here. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_Something happened. I'm coming over. Don't freak out._

Joe has been studying the text for ten minutes now, ever since he received it, and it isn't getting any less confusing. Patrick doesn't do this. Patrick doesn't send panicked texts at one in the morning and come over with no further explanation. Patrick doesn't vaguely say that something has happened and then follow it up with _don't freak out_ when the receiver of the text should, very obviously, be freaking out. Patrick isn't like this. 

Something is very, very wrong. 

Patrick lives twenty minutes away from Joe. If something is really wrong, he can cut that time in half, given he doesn't get caught speeding. Joe knows this from experience - he's had to gun it over to Patrick's place before. Patrick's never done it to his, though. He assumes the time will be the same anyway. 

So if that's right, then Patrick should show up right about-

There's a knock on the door. 

Joe rises uncertainly from his chair, pocketing his phone and cautiously making his way to the door. He isn't sure what to expect, but he's prepared for anything. 

When he opens the door, what he gets is a frantic-looking, jittery Patrick standing on his doorstep, staring anxiously at him. 

"What's wrong?" Joe asks immediately, because Patrick looks fucking horrible. Patrick's jaw drops when Joe asks, so Joe assumes Patrick doesn't understand why he had asked and continues explanatorily, "Um, you look _really_ freaked out."

Patrick blinks, still staring blankly at Joe, then his face goes red and he hisses out, "Say that again."

"Uh...you look really freaked out?" Joe repeats, starting to feel rather concerned. 

Patrick groans loudly, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head like he's trying to clear it - an action he always takes when he's frustrated. He opens his eyes again and says, "So...you see nothing out of the ordinary here."

Joe frowns, puzzled. "No. Why?"

Patrick grimaces, his face going a couple shades of red deeper. "Can I hang out here for a little?"

Joe is very, very confused, and by all means, has no reason to say yes to that. 

But he also has no reason to say no. 

"Sure." He shrugs. "Why not?"

Patrick slips through the doorway, and Joe shuts the door after him. Patrick looks up to him, his expression grateful. 

"Thank you," he says quietly. He still looks frustrated and confused, and Joe is a little confused himself, but he just shrugs again. 

"Yeah, uh, sure," he says. "Anytime."

He has no fucking idea what's going on. 

///

"Why did you come over here, anyway?"  
Joe asks over breakfast the next morning. 

Patrick shakes his head as he shoves a spoonful of cereal into his mouth, scratching at the bright red marks the uncomfortable couch fabric had made on his cheek. Well, that's what he gets for being nice and insisting on letting Joe keep his bed. "You're not going to believe me."

"Try me," Joe challenges, taking a bite of his own breakfast. 

Patrick sighs and mutters, "Okay, so...I got cursed."

Joe doesn't dispute this, he simply asks, "How the fuck did you manage that?"

Patrick pulls a face. "Spilled a coffee on a stranger. Really fucking pissed her off. It was midnight, I was half asleep, not my fault!"

"And you were getting coffee at midnight because...?" Joe prompts dubiously, swallowing another spoon of food. 

"I was working and I didn't want to fall asleep. Needed my caffeine." Patrick shrugs, like this makes total sense. Joe isn't going to argue - it may make no sense for most people, but coming from Patrick, it's the most sensical reasoning ever. 

"So...you got cursed," Joe finishes, frowning. He still doesn't get that part, but he believes Patrick anyway. It doesn't seem like something Patrick would lie about. 

"Yeah," Patrick says. 

"How so?" Joe asks, because, well...Patrick doesn't look cursed to him. 

Patrick grimaces. "Uh...not important."

"Okay?" Joe shrugs. He won't ask if Patrick doesn't want him to, no matter how much he wants to know now. Patrick looks relieved, so Joe assumes he's done the right thing. 

"So...want to see what's on TV?" Patrick suggests in a thinly veiled attempt to change the subject. 

Joe nods. He doesn't see why not. 

///

So maybe calling Pete wasn't the greatest idea Joe's ever had. 

He's just kind of peeved. Like, Patrick comes over at midnight, saying "don't freak out", then shows up with nothing to freak out about in the first place, and then the next morning says he's cursed but won't explain how? It's all kind of suspicious to Joe. 

So, what does he do? Have Pete come over so he can...well, he doesn't know. Get a second opinion? Get someone to knock some sense into Patrick?

Yeah, this wasn't very well planned out at all. 

The second the doorbell rings, Patrick tenses up. He and Joe are seated on the couch, with the television blaring sitcom reruns at full volume. Joe reaches for the remote and turns it down. 

"Who's that?" Patrick asks, looking very worried. 

Joe shrugs. "Probably Pete. I invited him over."

Patrick gapes, looking like this offends him. "You did what?"

Joe turns to him, perplexed as to why he's upset. Pete can be annoying sometimes, yeah, but he's a good friend. "I invited Pete over," he says again, because Patrick acted like he didn't believe it the first time. 

"Oh god. Oh god, why?" Patrick complains, groaning. 

Joe is, it is safe to say, more confused than he has ever been in his life. 

"Listen, man," he says, "I'm just going to let him in, okay?"

Patrick doesn't say anything, just makes a face and ignores Joe. Joe sighs and gets up to answer the door. As upset about Pete being here as Patrick seems to be, he doesn't make any move to stop Joe from letting Pete in. 

When Joe opens the door, Pete is standing there, looking puzzled. 

"Okay, what's up?" he asks immediately, looking in to survey the house like he's looking for a fire of something. And with the vague and troubling text Joe had sent him as an invitation, Joe can't say he's surprised. 

"Come in," Joe says, and Pete does. Patrick is still sitting angrily on the couch, arms crossed over his chest and eyes trained on the floor. 

"So," Joe begins, "Patrick keeps trying to tell me he's cursed, but I can't see how, and he won't tell me."

"I _am_ cursed, asshole!" Patrick calls indignantly from the couch, not looking up from Joe's carpet. 

Pete looks around the house again, his confusion evidently growing. "Uh... _where is he_?"

"Huh?" Joe thinks Pete's confusion is catching on, because now he's rather puzzled too. "What are you, blind? He's on the couch."

Pete is staring straight at the couch, but he still says, "Uh, Joe...there's no one on the couch."

Joe looks back. Patrick is still on the couch, still looking pissy. He turns back to Pete. Pete is still staring directly at the couch, still looking confused. 

Joe turns back to Patrick. "Okay, what the fuck?"

"I told you, I'm cursed!" Patrick says, getting huffily to his feet and finally looking up, even if only to glare at Joe. 

"Well, I can certainly hear him," Pete comments, perturbed. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know!" Joe says, glaring straight back at Patrick. 

Patrick stalks over to Joe and Pete, and gently reaches out to put a hand on Pete's shoulder. Pete jumps at the touch, which really confuses Joe, because how did he not see Patrick coming?

Suddenly, everything falls into place. Pete didn't see Patrick coming because _he can't see Patrick_. But - what? Why? If this is the curse Patrick's been going on about...why can Joe still see him?

"Pete, go home," Patrick says quietly, his voice turning gentle and his glare dissipating. "I'm gonna be fine."

"Uh, okay?" Pete seems too freaked out to argue, backing up nervously. Patrick's hand falls off his shoulder, and Patrick doesn't try to put it back. "Bye?"

He's out the door as quick as is probably humanly possible, presumably very distressed by what he's seen - or rather, what he hasn't seen. Joe is rather distressed too, but for the opposite reason. 

He whirls on Patrick. "Okay, you have a _lot_ of fucking explaining to do."

Patrick winces. "Right. Can we sit down?"

One minute later, they're on the couch, and Joe has brought a glass of water for each of them. Patrick is sipping slowly at his, looking hesitant. 

"Okay, I want to know exactly what this curse you keep mentioning is, and why the fuck Pete couldn't see you and I still can," Joe blurts out, all his restraint gone in an instant. 

Patrick bites his lip, working at it anxiously as he seems to contemplate what to say. Finally, he begins, "The curse is - it's pretty simple. You figured it out, I think. I'm. I'm invisible." He takes a huge gulp of water, then starts tapping uneasily on the glass as he sets it back down. 

"Alright, great, then why can I see you?" Joe asks, and isn't that the million dollar question? He's pretty sure the invisibility thing isn't a lie. He'd seen how Pete had acted earlier - and that can't have been fake, Pete is a terrible actor. But that doesn't explain why Joe is mysteriously exempt from Patrick's invisibility. 

Patrick looks down at the ground, and takes a deep breath, before slowly speaking again. "You know how ninety-nine percent of curses are resolved, right?"

Joe rolls his eyes. "Let me guess. That 'true love's kiss' bullshit."

Patrick nods, wringing his hands apprehensively. "Uh huh. Yeah, so, the lady that cursed me, uh, I think she was trying to make it easy to figure out?"

And, oh god, something has just occurred to Joe. It's not possible that Patrick is suggesting...no. No, it's not. 

Is it?

Patrick continues speaking, unaware of Joe's thoughts. "So, like, the specifics of the curse, the actual fine print, was I'd be invisible to everyone... _except my true love_."

Yeah, it's exactly what Joe had thought he was suggesting. 

"Oh my god," Joe mutters, unsure how else to respond to that. How is he even supposed to respond to something like that? What is he supposed to say in this situation?

"So, my first thought was to come to you, because I thought you were the least likely to freak out if I showed up and you couldn't see me. Except-" Patrick's voice breaks. He looks like he might cry. "Except you could. And I didn't think - fuck, I don't know. I should've told you first thing. I'm sorry."

There are a million things Joe could say to this, but what really comes out is, "So what you're saying is I'm supposed to kiss you now?"

Patrick goes bright red and stutters out, "I - I mean - holy shit, is that really what you got out of all that?"

It's Joe's turn to blush a little. "Yes? I mean, you want to fix the curse, right?"

"Uh, yes, yeah, I would like to do that, yes." Patrick nods decisively, though he's looking not all that decisive otherwise. 

"Then we should, uh, we should do that," Joe suggests, hoping he sounds more sure of the idea than he really is. 

"Yes." Patrick nods again. "Yeah, we should."

Joe is not good at this. Joe is not good at anything even vaguely romantic, he has had minimal experience with kissing people, and _no_ experience with kissing guys. Especially no experience with kissing guys who are Patrick - because fantasies don't count. 

And, yeah, that thought just made this a million times worse. 

Joe decides that if he doesn't just fucking go for it, Patrick is probably going to remain cursed for all eternity, and that's really not good. So he goes for it. 

Joe definitely has no idea how he's supposed to do this, but hey, whatever this is works pretty well. He must hold the kiss for a little too long, because Patrick leans back and says, "Uh, hey, I think that's enough to fix it, thanks."

Joe reddens, embarrassed. "Oh. Right. Yeah." He clears his throat and asks, "So, uh, did that do it?"

"I think so," Patrick answers, nodding carefully. "Yeah."

"Great," Joe says. 

This is not great at all. 

///

Joe has spent four hours in serious crisis and has come out of it deciding he really needs to talk to Patrick. 

Patrick is still hanging around his house, like he isn't sure he's even allowed to leave - for the record, he totally is - and he's been avoiding Joe. Which Joe thinks is kind of an asshole move, but whatever. 

So he has no choice but to confront Patrick in the middle of the living room and bluntly say, "We need to talk."

Patrick's eyes snap wide open and he shakes his head. "Uh, no we don't."

"No, no, we really do," Joe insists. "Because I'm pretty sure you told me earlier that I'm supposed to be your _true love_ and then we kissed and now you're avoiding me and I really don't know how to feel anymore!"

Patrick just stares blankly at him, saying nothing, so he goes on. 

"Like, I'm not sure if you were kidding or something, but I really hope you weren't, because I kind of think I'm really in love with you," he admits, trying to gauge Patrick's reaction, but there really isn't a reaction to gauge. 

"Joe-"

"Stand up," Joe says before Patrick can say anything else. Patrick obliges, even though he seems confused as to Joe's intentions, and gets to his feet. Joe takes a step closer. Taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves, he kisses Patrick again - slower, more cautious this time. Patrick freezes for a moment, then slowly steps back. Joe's heart just about dies right then and there. 

"Joe..." he says, flustered. "You broke the curse already."

Joe shakes his head, unable to prevent a peal of disbelieving laughter from escaping his lips. "This isn't about the curse anymore, Patrick."

"Oh," Patrick says softly, then his eyes widen and he repeats it again, louder. " _Oh_." He looks Joe in the eyes and then says, " _Okay_."

This time, it's Patrick who takes the step forward and kisses Joe. 

And hey, Joe thinks, if this is how it's always going to end up, Patrick should get cursed more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the prompt to blame for this-  
>  _Anonymous said:  
>  AU where Patrick is cursed to be invisible, but only his true love can see him. Joe doesn't know why Patrick is freaking out about a curse because to him, nothing's changed. Being a caring friend (or true love, apparently?) he helps Patrick break the curse._
> 
> And anyways -
> 
> As always:
> 
> Hmu with ideas/prompts/headcanons at my Tumblr (vicesandvelociraptors) 
> 
> Comment if you liked it because COMMENTS MAKE MY DAY
> 
> And thanks for reading!


End file.
